Founded in 642 A.D., Cairo's famous necropolis is 6.4 kilometres long, and densely packed with house-like tombs and momuments going back to shortly after the Arab conquest of Egypt. But unlike other cities of the dead around the world, Cairo's is also home to the living, with as many as half a million people making their homes among the dead — some to be close to their relatives, and others merely because the rest of the city is so heavily crowded. (Photo: Charlie Phillips/Flickr)

Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, U.S.A.

Close your eyes and imagine an old gothic cemetery in the antebellum South: with its worn tombstones and Spanish moss draped on Virginia Live oak trees, Savannah, Georgia's Bonaventure Cemetery is the embodiment of that image — indeed, it's the titular garden in John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The most famous monument in the 167-year-old graveyard, the "Bird Girl" featured on the novel's cover, had to be removed to the Telfair Museum of Art to protect it from the book's curious fans. (Photo: Jeff Gunn/Flickr)

Highgate Cemetery, London, U.K.

Highgate first opened in 1839 during the reign of Queen Victoria, and over the intervening years, it's become home to the remains of some of very famous names, including Karl Marx, Mary Ann Cross (better known as the Middlemarch author George Eliot), punk impresario Malcolm McLaren and the writer Douglas Adams. And, depending on whom you ask, the Highgate Vampire, a seven-foot-tall phantom who allegedly stalks the site. Shown above is the Circle of Lebanon, one of the architectural highlights of Highgate. (Photo: vintagedept/Flickr)

Fairview Cemetery, Halifax

Located in the north end of Halifax, Fairview Cemetery is home to the remains of 121 victims of the sinking of the Titanic, more than any other cemetery in the world. Most are recognized with simple granite markers laid out in a gently sloping curve that micmics the topography of the land — and is remiscent of the hull of the great ship. Perhaps the most visited grave here is marked "J. Dawson" — although research has revealed it contains the remains of one Joseph Dawson, not Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson. (Photo: Dennis Jarvis/Flickr)

Hanging coffins, Sagada, Philippines

In the Mountain Province of the Philippines, some people still practice the ancient custom of hanging wooden coffins from the side of a mountain. The coffins are made from hollowed-out wood, and the custom is thought to help bring the departed family member a little closer to heaven. (Photo: Haundreis/Flickr)

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Cemeteries in Canada are usually sombre affairs, with grey tombstones set against a closely cropped lawn. In Guatemala, on the other hand, they're often vibrant and colourful. The elaborate mausoleums of Chichicastenango's cemetery are painted in the same bright pastels used for houses of the living. (Image: Stacy/Flickr)

Okunoin Cemetery, Japan

Japan's largest graveyard is located in the foothills of Mount Koya, south of Osaka. Inside are over 200,000 graves, nestled in among giant cedar trees and temples. Pictured here in the hats and bibs are Jizo Bodhisattvas, which are believed to protect the souls of dead children. (Photo: Andrea Schaffer/Flickr)

Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic

Within one city block in Prague, over 12,000 tombstones are wedged in at all angles, with dates going as far back as the 15th century. During much of its history, Prague's Jews were only allowed to be buried in a few locations throughout the city. There are an estimated 200,000 bodies buried here. (Photo: Andy Hay/Flickr).

Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France

Paris's largest cemetery has become a requisite stop for many visiting the city, holding as it does the remains of Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust and many more writers, musicians and artists. Perhaps the most famous grave belongs to Oscar Wilde, whose angel-adorned tomb is engraved with a quotation from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," which he wrote after being imprisoned for gross indecency. (Photo: Till Krech/Flickr)

Panteón Antiguo, Xoxocotlán, Mexico

Every year, at about 11 p.m. on October 31, locals pack into this tiny old cemetery next to a crumbling chapel outside Oaxaca to celebrate the Dia de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead. The town's departed are feted with altars, statues, flowers petals, music and thousands of candles. (Photo: Byron Howes/Flickr)

The one thing that all cemeteries have in common is that they're places devoted to the peaceful contemplation of the departed. But the sheer variety of the ways that humans remember their dead is awesome to behold. In honour of Halloween, check out 10 unique and beautiful cemeteries from around the world in our gallery above.

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